Scotland’s poorest students are being failed by the SNP

Scotland’s exam results day has been something of a disaster this year. An already stressful time for anxious pupils has been made worse after hundreds of students across the country received blank email templates instead of their grades – a gaffe which the Scottish Qualifications Authority is scrambling to fix – while a flailing Scottish government struggles to explain why the poverty-related attainment looks worse, and wider, than ever.

The bad news for Scottish students doesn’t end there. 2024’s national exam results don’t just demonstrate that the gap has widened; today’s figures have almost all eclipsed pre-pandemic levels. The overall pass rate for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exam results has plunged again – as it has every year since the pandemic highs in 2020.

Pupils from all backgrounds – whether rich or poor – have achieved worse outcomes than their peers in previous years. It spells trouble for an SNP that only a month ago faced off a frustrated electorate in the national poll and came away rather badly.